


as if the ocean said if it could take us back it would

by curiouscorvid (prometheanTactician)



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Implied Sexual Content, Just some guys being dudes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:54:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22104385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prometheanTactician/pseuds/curiouscorvid
Summary: Mike can feel it when the lightning is about to flash. He tenses in anticipation, then closes his eyes in time to miss it, in time to pretend it isn't there. The thunder is harder to block out.
Relationships: Oliver Banks & Michael "Mike" Crew, Oliver Banks/Michael "Mike" Crew
Comments: 16
Kudos: 129





	as if the ocean said if it could take us back it would

It's raining. Properly raining, not that half-hearted blanket of mist that covers London most of the time, but dense sheets of water pelting the sea in a constant cacophony. Mike can hardly see the ocean through it, probably couldn't at all if the waves weren't so large. Like the ocean is reaching for the yacht Simon gave them, reaching for them, trying to pull them both under. To drown them with the satellites. Leave them stranded in the water furthest from any shore, surrounded by endless ocean on all ends, no sea life or any sense of where the surface is. The idea of it twists his insides with terror, but also makes him shiver with want. Such things still scare him so badly, but he wants them even worse than that.

Mike can feel it when the lightning is about to flash. He tenses in anticipation, then closes his eyes in time to miss it, in time to pretend it isn't there. The thunder is harder to block out.

"Should you really be watching? Doesn't this upset you?" Oliver is perhaps the only Avatar Mike knows who can ask that and sound sincere. Not mocking, not patronizing. Just a mild, friendly concern. He can be so, so soft without even trying.It makes Mike's insides twist again, from something other than fear but not unlike it.

"Yeah, it's... not great," Mike admits, just short of reluctant. "But I can't not watch. It just... it's satisfying. I can't explain, but it's like something broken snaps back into place for a moment. Like a discomfort I had tuned out is suddenly gone."

He speaks so fondly, despite the way he trembles not entirely with excitement. Despite the white-knuckle grip he has on his own arms. Despite the lump in his throat and the sting along his scars. His companion nods solemnly, understanding the feeling in a way only an Avatar ever could.

Oliver places his hands over Mike's, careful and deliberate. He moves softly as he eases them away from the nail-marks on Mike's arms, brings them towards himself. He kisses the tense knuckles. The thing inside Mike untwists.

"Come away from the window." Oliver suggests. And it truly is a suggestion. Oliver is also one of the only Avatars who won't throw a super-powered tantrum at not being obeyed. "It's cold and I'm tired."

He can't sleep alone. They both know that well enough. It does not need to be said aloud. Oliver's dreams are a burden, though less of one since they relocated. Still, sleep does not come easily. He finds it easier listening to Mike breathe, hearing his heartbeat, not seeing tendrils around him in his dreams.

Would it be too on the nose to call him a port in the storm?

"Alright." Mike agrees, quite readily as another bolt of light splits the sky. He doesn't bother hiding the flinch. Oliver's hands tightened around his own. Lips press against his cheek, and he knows it's just meant to be a brief comfort but that doesn't stop him from turning his head as Oliver pulls away and kissing him properly.

It's an instant distraction, for Mike. Not for the usual reasons a kiss is distracting, though he certainly finds no shortage of excitement in the feeling of Oliver against him. The distraction comes from elsewhere, though. Somewhere less charged. Somewhere lighter. Oliver leans into him so gently, runs a hand through his hair so softly. Mike is used to feeling hot when kissing someone, but with Oliver he's learning that feeling warm isn't necessarily a downgrade.

He puts his hands on Oliver's hips, pulls him closer and revels in the sound Oliver makes against his lips. Quiet, barely there, but undeniably needy. That describes Oliver pretty well, actually. Needy. But for very particular things. For closeness, for comfort, for someone solid and sure and permanent. Someone he won't lose.

Mike catches Oliver's bottom lip with his teeth, prompting Oliver to press fully against him, tangling his hands tightly in Mike's hair. Mike can taste the surge of desperation on Oliver's tongue. The grip he has on Oliver's hips tightens, and Mike can't help but groan at the way Oliver shivers against him.

They break apart, eventually, but they stay close. There's no reason to step apart, so why would they?

Oliver smiles. Mike feels his cheeks flush, feels his breath hitch. The smell of ozone that's filled their room since the storm started fades. Mike lets himself be led to the bed. They kiss again. Then again. They don't have anything else to do, so they continue until Mike stops shaking. Until he can focus on nothing but Oliver, a small contented hum escaping him at the feeling of lips on his neck.

"... Would it be weird to say I love you?" Oliver whispers against his skin, barely there, like he's hoping Mike won't hear. His voice trembles with something that rests in the quiet spaces where the sound falls away.

"I made nice with Simon so you could be safely in the middle of nowhere. I moved to the middle of nowhere with you. We've been living together for months, in the middle of nowhere. It'd be weirder if you didn't love me at this point, Oli." He eases a hand up and down along Oliver's side, trying to calm the tenseness that had seized him when Mike started speaking. "I love you too. Thought you knew, really, or I'd have told you sooner."

"You're too good to me." Oliver sighs, voice heavy with something Mike knows he'll never be able to understand. Thunder rings out again, and Mike doesn't have time to go still before Oliver is kissing up his neck again, lips working against his jawline and over to his lips, stealing his breath away before the storm can do it for him.

By time they break apart again, Mike has forgotten everything outside of him and Oliver.

"You have it the wrong way around." He breathes. He doesn't give Oliver the chance to argue. Not even Oliver can make a self deprecating quip while someone else's tongue is in his mouth.

There's another flash, and the rumbling that follows almost immediately indicates the storm is on top of them.

But Mike is too busy to notice. Too busy being surprised when Oliver straddles him and pushes him down onto the bed. Too distracted by Oliver kissing down his chest along the lines of his scars. Too enthralled by Oliver undoing the button of his jeans.

Lightning strikes right outside. 

Mike does not notice.

**Author's Note:**

> Oliver/Mike is a good ship and quite frankly I pity anyone that's still sleeping on it
> 
> Title is from "Crying Swimmers" by Squalloscope
> 
> "Just wait until high tide,  
> To each shore its tiny flood,  
> As if the ocean said if it could  
> Take us back it would"


End file.
